The IDF will deploy six battalions of reservist forces at the West Bank security barrier to prevent terrorist attacks and illegal crossings, the military's Spokespersons Unit said in a statement on Thursday.
The move — approved directly by IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi — follows a situational assessment regarding rising security tensions in the volatile area, and comes amid calls to increase security measures at the separation fence, deemed by Israel as a vital tool in its fight against Palestinian terrorism.
The decision also follows a flurry of terror attacks that left 14 Israelis dead in four separate attacks throughout the country — two of which were perpetrated by terrorists who crossed illegally from the West Bank — and amid heightened Israeli-Palestinian tensions exacerbated by Israel’s consequent counterterrorism operations in the region, as well as by the holy month of Ramadan.
“The recruitment will enable the continued effort to prevent terrorists from crossing and the illegal passage in the seam area of the West Bank,” the military said in its statement.
The IDF has thus reinforced troops in the West Bank with 12 additional battalions for a total of 25 battalions as part of an overarching NIS 360 million plan to reinforce and mend the tattered security barrier, which runs along with parts of the Green Line — the demarcation line set out at the end of the war around Israel's creation in 1949 — and inside the West Bank itself.
The military added that at least some of the forces are expected to remain in the West Bank until the 40-kilometer construction project is complete.
i24NEWS has contributed to this story.